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Crafting the Digital Future
for Design & Crafts Council Ireland
WP Engine Agency Partner WONDR enhances the online presence and user experience
for Ireland’s national agency of design and craft.
Site:
Industry:
Government Agency
“As agency partners, WONDR’s expertise in design and innovation coupled with WP Engine’s hosting and management services, has enabled the creation of a visually stunning, secure, and scalable digital experience that ensures that the DCCI is future-proofed for innovation.”
—Dermot O'Shea, Founder, WONDR
99%
GTMetrix
Performance Score
40%
Decrease in
Bounce Rate
2,000%
Increase in
Session Duration
The Client
Design & Crafts Council Ireland is the national agency for craft and design in Ireland, supporting designers and makers to develop their businesses in a sustainable way, and advocate for the societal benefits of craft and design. DCCI’s activities are funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment via Enterprise Ireland. DCCI provides a range of programmes, support, and services for designers and craftspeople, learners and enthusiasts, retailers and gallerists, shoppers and collectors, and partner organisations in order to raise the standard and profile of Irish design and craft.
WONDR is a results-focused Digital Product Practice delivering accelerated innovation through clarity and bravery. Working globally with headquarters in Dublin, WONDR collaborates with international brands across a diverse range of industries, harnessing expertise in innovation, brand, UX, design, media, technology, research, AI, and neural networks to create beautiful and effective digital products that deliver financial uplifts for clients. A WP Engine Agency Partner, WONDR has also helped clients launch fintechs, utilize blockchain, visualize data, increase loyalty, double conversion rates, and grow into market leaders across the globe.
The Challenge
Consolidate DCCI’s five separate websites into a unified content hub, strengthening its online presence, improving user experience, and helping the organization promote Ireland's rich culture of design and craft.
The Solution
WONDR led a complete redesign of DCCI's digital presence using
WP Engine's managed WordPress platform to create a secure, scalable unified content hub. The reimagined site emphasizes user-friendliness, simplified navigation, and engaging content to effectively showcase the creative quality of Irish crafts, in line with DCCI's mission.
The Results
DCCI's digital transformation, led by WONDR in partnership with
WP Engine, marked a significant milestone for the organization.
The project wasn’t only about creating a new website, but crafting a digital experience that mirrored the depth and richness of Irish design and crafts.
Key to the success of this goal was consolidating DCCI's sub-brands under one hosting umbrella. This streamlined digital infrastructure, saving both time and costs. The results, from both a performance and engagement perspective, have been impressive, to say the least.
The relaunched website now boasts a GTMetrix performance score of 99%, with a Structure score of 96%.
Largest Contentful Paint, a critical performance metric and one of Google’s Core Web Vitals, was reduced to 844ms while Total Blocking Time, another Core Web Vitals metric, was brought down to 34ms.
User engagement metrics have mirrored these improvements. Since the new site was launched, it’s seen a 40% decrease in bounce rate, with session durations increasing by as much as 2,000%.
While WONDR’s UX and design expertise played a pivotal role in these improvements, WP Engine's fully managed platform served as a powerful foundation, offering industry-leading performance, security, and scalability to ensure fast loading times and protection against cyber threats.
WP Engine’s proprietary EverCache solution, combined with extensive image optimization, contributed to an overall performance boost, and Global Edge Security, which provides advanced DDoS protection and a managed WAF, fortified the site against threats, instilling confidence in both the Council and its users.
This was especially important given WordPress's popularity and the continuous attempts by hackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
Integration of a CDN and SSL certificates was another strategic move, enhancing the website's global reach and security.
This not only improved loading times for international visitors but further bolstered the site's defenses against digital threats.
And although the nature of DCCI's operations means web traffic can spike unpredictably, particularly during events or promotions, WP Engine's scalability allows the site to handle these peaks effortlessly, ensuring a smooth experience for every visitor.
Best of all, the client was thrilled with the new site.
“Thanks to WONDR, we now have an online presence that truly reflects the role that DCCI plays in raising awareness of the vibrancy of the craft and design sector in Ireland. We have been given a platform which we, the team at DCCI, along with the designers and makers we represent can be proud of,” said DCCI Head of Communication and Digital Marketing, Suzy O’Keefe.
“Our new website is an engaging visual experience that successfully demonstrates the breadth of work we do throughout Ireland.”
Overall, the project went beyond a digital facelift, and ultimately resulted in a strategic overhaul of DCCI’s site, which enhanced user engagement, strengthened DCCI's brand reputation, and positioned the Council as a champion of Irish design and craft on a global stage.
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